Life in the twentieth century depends on oil and it is hard to imagine a world without oil products.
The companies that search for, refine and market this versatile resource operate on a global scale. Countries that have oil reserves within their borders, and are able to export oil, can receive a large income. Wars have been fought over areas containing oil fields.
This study unit aims to look at:
It has often been said that oil is vital to our way of life. As a group, try to "brainstorm" a list of products which are made from oil. How many can you think of?
A note about using statistics
The sources of statistics used in this publication are acknowledged under each table.
Statistics on reserves, production and consumption of oil represent the position at the end of a particular year. They are a useful guideline, but do not necessarily indicated what will happen in future.
It is important to distinguish between a resource - that is, the total amount of oil on the planet - and a reserve, which is the total amount of oil we know about and believe we can extract economically. The reserves are always changing because of new finds, improvements in technology, or changes in price which may make it economical to develop finds which were previously considered uneconomical or inaccessible.
Oil products
Crude oil is the raw material for a wide range of fuel and chemical products.